"10 000 Steps a Day" Walking Challenge Prize Presentation Ceremony cum Carnival held to promote health benefits of walking (with photos)
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The "10 000 Steps a Day" Walking Challenge was co-organised by the DH and the OSHC in November 2022 with the aim of encouraging members of the public to increase their physical activities to combat non-communicable diseases (NCD). With the slogan "10 000 Steps for Health", the Walking Challenge promoted walking through workplace organisations targeting adults. The Walking Challenge attracted over 120 organisations and around 10 000 participants to take part. Among the participants, over 6 400 of them achieved an average daily steps of 10 000. The total number of steps of all participants exceeded 3.2 billion, which is an encouraging result.
The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, officiated at the prize presentation ceremony today, during which representatives from over 30 organisations received various awards from the officiating guests. Addressing at the ceremony, Dr Lam emphasised that physical inactivity is one of the key risk factors leading to NCD. Among various types of physical activity, walking is simple and many people are doing it every day, and it brings plenty of health benefits such as improving cardiopulmonary function, strengthening muscles and bones as well as reducing anxiety, depression and the risk of chronic diseases. Adults are recommended to gradually increase their daily step goal to 10 000 based on an individual's own physical conditions, abilities, pace and circumstances. Any amount of walking is better than none, even if the goal cannot be reached yet.
Dr Lam also took the opportunity to express gratitude to the enthusiastic participation from various sectors for supporting this event, including the OSHC which has been closely collaborating with the DH in promoting walking in the community.
A carnival, comprising various game booths and performances, was also held after the prize presentation ceremony to encourage the public to build a healthy lifestyle in an interactive way.
Other officiating guests at today's event included the Chairman of the OSHC, Dr Alan Chan; the Vice-chairman of the OSHC, Dr David Mong; the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the DH, Dr Edwin Tsui; the Head of Non-Communicable Disease Branch of the CHP, Dr Rita Ho; the Chairperson of the Task Group on Promotion of Physical Activities, Dr Lui Siu-fai; the Vice-chairperson of the Task Group on Promotion of Physical Activities, Dr Lobo Louie; and the Executive Director of the OSHC, Ms Bonnie Yau.
For more information on the Walking Challenge, please visit the event's official website (www.10000stepsaday.hk/).
Ends/Saturday, February 25, 2023
Issued at HKT 16:56
Issued at HKT 16:56
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